US oilfield services firms SLB, Halliburton beat analyst expectations in third quarter

US-based oilfield services giants SLB and Halliburton both beat analyst expectations with their third-quarter results, released over the past week.

SLB’s adjusted profit for the quarter up to September 30 came in at $0.69 per share, compared with analysts' expectations of $0.66 per share, based on data compiled by LSEG and cited by Reuters. The result represented a drop from $0.74 per share in the second quarter of 2025 and $0.89 per share in the third quarter of 2024. However, SLB’s performance was boosted by strong demand for equipment and services in North America.

Net income attributable to SLB came in at $739mn in the third quarter, representing a 27% sequential decrease, as well as a 38% year-on-year (y/y) decrease. The company’s revenue, meanwhile, totalled $8.93bn for the third quarter, up by 4% sequentially but down 3% y/y. SLB noted that its revenue had been boosted by its acquisition of ChampionX during the third quarter.

Looking ahead, however, the company expects a challenging market.

“As industry economics tighten, customers are increasingly prioritising production and recovery solutions to offset decline by unlocking incremental barrels at the lowest possible cost,” stated SLB’s CEO, Olivier Le Peuch. “At the same time, they continue to accelerate the most critical FIDs and execute in-flight development projects.”

Le Peuch said it was more likely that international markets – rather than the North American market – would lead an activity rebound when supply and demand rebalance. According to him, this would be supported by “sustained investment for oil capacity, gas expansion projects and a constructive outlook for deepwater”.

Halliburton, for its part, reported an adjusted profit of $0.58 per share, which Reuters said beat analysts' expectations of $0.50 per share, based on LSEG data. This represented an increase from $0.55 per share in the second quarter of 2025 but a decrease from $0.73 per share in the third quarter of 2024.

Adjusted net income attributable to Halliburton came in at $496mn for the latest quarter, up from $472mn sequentially but down from $641mn a year ago. The company reported revenue of $5.6bn for the latest quarter, up sequentially from $5.5bn but down y/y from $5.7bn.

Similarly to SLB, Halliburton saw its performance boosted by North America. The company’s third-quarter North America revenue of $2.4bn represented a 5% increase on the previous quarter, with Halliburton citing increased stimulation activity onshore in the US and Canada, as well as higher completion tool sales and increased wireline activity in the US Gulf of Mexico. This was partially offset by lower cementing activity onshore in the US and decreased stimulation activity in the Gulf.

Looking ahead, though, Halliburton’s chairman, president and CEO, Jeff Miller, said on the company’s earnings call that he expected a 12-13% sequential decline in North America revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025. This was attributed to more white space – or idle time owing to a lack of customer activity – than previously expected.

Halliburton has cut its capital expenditure budget for 2026 to$1bn, down by 30%.